Latest news LIVE: Want to make India manufacturing hub, PM Modi at SCO

From Shanghai Cooperation Organization meet to coronavirus cases and more, catch all the latest developments from across the globe here

10:54 PM

Word liberation is wrong. Hyderabad was and will remain an integral part of India: Owaisi

The word liberation is wrong. Hyderabad was and will remain an integral part of India. It should be celebrated as Integration Day, said AIMIM Chief Asaduddin Owaisi on BJP to celebrate 'Telangana National Liberation Day' on September 17

10:43 PM

PM Modi leaves historic Uzbek city of Samarkand after attending SCO summit

Prime Minister Narendra Modi left Uzbekistan's historic city of Samarkand on Friday after attending the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) summit and holding bilateral talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin, Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi, Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoyev and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

The SCO held its first in-person summit in Samarkand in Uzbekistan after two years. The summit also saw the participation of Chinese President Xi Jinping, Putin, Raisi and Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif among other leaders from the Central Asian countries.

9:25 PM

22 dead in UP as heavy rains cause wall collapses, damage house

Heavy overnight rains in Uttar Pradesh Friday led to the deaths of at least 22 people, including nine labourers who were buried alive under the debris when an under-construction wall in the state capital collapsed on their huts.

The only survivor in the Lucknow incident, where a portion of the boundary wall of an Army enclave collapsed following rains, was a man, named Golu, who made the call to police from under the rubble.

8:05 PM

PM Narendra Modi met Uzbek President Shavkat Mirziyoyev in Samarkand

7:10 PM

Akasa Air aims to operate over 250 flights per week on nine domestic routes by October

Newly-launched carrier Akasa Air is aiming for over 250 flights per week operating over nine domestic routes by the second week of October, the airline said on Friday as it announced entry in the highly-competitive Delhi market.

The airline, founded by late stock market investor Rakesh Jhunjhunwala along with aviation industry veteran Vinay Dube, launched its operations on August 7 with a flight to Ahmedabad from the financial capital.

Since then, it has expanded the route network to Chennai, Kochi, Bengaluru.

6:18 PM

Sessions court sentences Vadgam MLA Jignesh Mevani,18 others to six months in jail

Ahmedabad Sessions court on Friday sentenced Vadgam MLA Jignesh Mevani and 18 others to six months in jail for holding a protest near Gujarat University in 2016. The court granted bail to all 19 persons, next date of hearing is October 17.

5:50 PM

IndiGO aircraft grounded at Kanpur airport due to a technical snag

An IndiGO aircraft bound to Indore grounded at Kanpur airport due to a technical snag. An alternate aircraft has been arranged for passengers, reports ANI

5:45 PM

Fire engulfs 42-storey building in China; no deaths reported

A massive fire sent flames and black smoke pouring Friday from a 42-storey skyscraper in central China belonging to the country's largest telecoms operator, but no casualties were reported, officials said.

Dozens of floors burned in the China Telecom building in the city of Changsha, the capital of central Hunan province. The city's fire department said it sent 280 firefighters who were able to quickly extinguish the blaze on the 218-metre (720-foot) building.

5:19 PM

All obsolete laws will be abolished soon in Haryana: Chief Secretary

Haryana Chief Secretary Sanjeev Kaushal on Friday said that 20 of the 56 obsolete laws identified in the state have been repealed and asked the officials to work on scrapping of the remaining others.

Kaushal was presiding over a meeting regarding the repeal of obsolete laws and acts, according to an official statement.

The repealing of these laws was done following the recommendations of Haryana State Review Committee.

4:32 PM

SC Summit: PM Modi and Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan hold bilateral talks

PM Modi and Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan hold bilateral talks on the sidelines of the SCO summit in Uzbekistan

 

The two leaders discussed ways to deepen bilateral cooperation in diverse sectors: PMO

4:10 PM

Textile ministry clears 23 strategic research projects worth around Rs 60 crore

Ministry of Textiles on Friday cleared 23 strategic research projects worth around Rs 60 crore in the areas of specialty fibres, sustainable textiles, geotextiles, mobiltech and sports textiles. These strategic research projects fall under flagship programme ‘National Technical Textiles Mission’

 

Among these projects, 12 projects of speciality fibres having application areas in agriculture, smart textiles, healthcare, strategic application and protective gears and four projects from sustainable textiles having application area in agriculture and healthcare sector cleared.

3:59 PM

PM Modi true follower of Ambedkar: Former president Ram Nath Kovind

Former president Ram Nath Kovind on Friday said Prime Minister Narendra Modi is a true follower of B R Ambedkar and is working towards turning the social reformer's vision into a reality.

Kovind also listed out initiatives of the government in the fields of education, labour welfare, women empowerment, building a self-reliant country and the reading down of Article 370 of the Constitution with respect to Jammu and Kashmir, and said these steps were in congruence with Ambedkar's vision.

3:54 PM

Centre should do positive things instead of 'harassing' everyone with CBI and ED: Delhi CM Kejriwal

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Friday said he has failed to understand what the liquor scam was about, and advised the Centre to do positive things for progress of the country instead of "harassing" everyone with CBI and ED.

His remarks came amid raids by the Enforcement Directorate at 40 locations across the country in connection with alleged irregularities in implementation of Excise Policy 2021-22 of the AAP government in Delhi.

3:53 PM

13 killed in wall collapse incidents in Uttar Pradesh amid heavy rains

Heavy rains brought down walls in parts of Uttar Pradesh on Friday, killing 13 people including nine labourers who were buried alive under the debris in the state capital.

The state government has announced financial assistance of Rs 4 lakh to the families of the deceased. In Lucknow, an under-construction boundary wall of an Army enclave collapsed following overnight rains, leaving nine labourers dead and one injured, police said.

3:51 PM

PM Modi true follower of B R Ambedkar, says Former President Ram Nath Kovind

Former president Ram Nath Kovind on Friday said Prime Minister Narendra Modi is a true follower of B R Ambedkar and is working towards turning the social reformer's vision into a reality.

Kovind also listed out initiatives of the government in the fields of education, labour welfare, women empowerment, building a self-reliant country and the reading down of Article 370 of the Constitution with respect to Jammu and Kashmir, and said these steps were in congruence with Ambedkar's vision.

3:45 PM

Delhi excise policy scam: ED questions AAP minister Satyendar Jain in Tihar jail

The Enforcement Directorate on Friday questioned Delhi minister and AAP leader Satyendar Jain inside the Tihar jail in a money laundering probe linked to alleged irregularities in the now-scrapped excise policy, official sources said.

Officials of the agency recorded Jain's statement according to the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA). The ED had moved a local court seeking its permission for the questioning. The court authorised the probe agency to carry out questioning on September 16, 22 and 23.

3:37 PM

Sonali Phogat death case: CBI team arrives in Goa for probe

A team of the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) arrived in Goa from Delhi on Friday to investigate the mysterious death of Haryana BJP leader Sonali Phogat in the state last month, an official said.

The central agency team would be visiting Anjuna police station and other spots related to the case in North Goa, the senior official said.

3:35 PM

Maharashtra transport dept to hike fees for VIP numbers for new vehicles

The Maharashtra transport department has issued a draft notification to hike fees for VIP numbers for new vehicles, an official said on Friday.

As per the draft notification, the number '0001' will have a proposed fee of Rs 5 lakh, up from Rs 3 lakh now for four-wheelers, while it will be Rs 1 lakh for two and three-wheelers instead of the present Rs 50,000, he said.

3:27 PM

AIADMK hits streets against DMK's power tariff hike

Tamil Nadu's main opposition party AIADMK on Friday staged state-wide protests demanding that the DMK regime roll back the recent hike in electricity tariff.

Addressing a protest at nearby Chengalpet, AIADMK interim general secretary K Palaniswami provided unit-wise break-up on electricity tariff increase for consumers and said domestic users of about 500 units faced a hike of "53 per cent."

3:26 PM

Water begins receding in Pakistan's worst flood-hit sout

Floodwaters are receding in Pakistan's worst-hit southern Sindh province, officials said Friday, a potentially bright sign in an ongoing crisis that has left hundreds of thousands of people homeless in the impoverished South Asian country.

The Indus River, which remained swollen until earlier this month, was now rushing at normal levels towards the Arabian Sea, according to Mohammad Irfan, an irrigation official in hard-hit Sindh. The water level in the past 48 hours receded as much as three feet in some of the inundated areas nearby, including the Khairpur and Johi towns, where waist-high water damaged crops and homes earlier this month.

3:00 PM

Will 'beautify' Delhi if get control of MCD: Arvind Kejriwal

Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Friday said that if Aam Aadmi Party gets control of the MCD, it will “beautify” the national capital and accused the current MCD of trying to turn the city into a city of "garbage mountains." During a press conference, he alleged that the civic body has plans to create 16 new landfill sites.

 

At present, three landfill sites -- Ghazipur, Okhla, and Bhalswa -- are located on Delhi borders.

 

"People living in the vicinity of these landfill sites are affected by the foul smell emanating from these garbage mounds and a host of other issues. Their life is literally like hell. We have heard that there are plans to make 16 new garbage mountains in the national capital," the CM said.

 

2:40 PM

Ukraine finds new mass burials, says Russia “leaves death"

Ukrainian authorities were expected to begin recovering bodies on Friday from a newly found mass burial site in a forest recaptured from Russian forces, a delicate task that President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said would help show the world "what the Russian occupation has led to”.

 

The burial site, containing hundreds of graves, was discovered close to Izium after a rapid counteroffensive by Ukrainian forces liberated the northeastern city and other swaths of the Kharkiv region, breaking what was largely becoming a military stalemate in the nearly seven-month war.

2:27 PM

Due to quality education provided in Delhi govt schools, 1,141 students cleared JEE, NEET: Kejriwal

Due to the quality education provided in Delhi government schools, 1,141 students have cleared JEE and NEET exams, Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Friday.

 

Kejriwal was speaking at an event organised to felicitate toppers of the Joint Entrance Examination (JEE) and the National Eligibility Entrance Test (NEET) at Thyagaraj Stadium here.

 

Felicitating the students, Kejriwal said 18 crore children study in government schools across the country and most of them are in a poor state.

2:11 PM

Universities to use 'normalised' CUET scores for preparing merit lists, not percentile: UGC chief

After the results for the Common University Entrance Test were declared, UGC Chairman M Jagadesh Kumar on Friday said universities will prepare the rank list for undergraduate admissions on the basis of "normalised" scores and not percentile or "raw marks".

 

Kumar told PTI that the scores have been normalised to provide a level playing field to students who wrote the exam in the same subject on different days or in different shifts.

 

The results for the debut edition of the Common University Entrance Test (CUET)-UG were declared earlier in the day.

2:11 PM

We will support India for its presidency next year: Chinese President Xi Jinping

Samarkand, Uzbekistan | Chinese President Xi Jinping congratulates India for hosting the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) Summit, next year. 

 

"We will support India for its presidency next year", said Chinese President Xi Jinping

2:09 PM

We want to encourage traditional medicines among SCO nations: PM Modi

... The SCO needs to focus on bringing diversified and resilient supply chains: Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the SCO Summit in Uzbekistan's Samarkand

 

1:51 PM

Germany seizes assets of Russian oil giant Rosneft

Germany is taking over Russian oil major Rosneft PJSC’s German unit, including stakes in three oil refineries, as Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s government reacts to the unprecedented energy crisis sparked by the invasion of Ukraine.

 

Germany is set to stop importing the Russian crude that feeds its refineries later this year as part of Europe’s move to isolate Russia economically. The government’s move “counteracts the impending threat to the security of energy supply and lays an important foundation for the preservation and future of the Schwedt location,” the economy ministry said.

 

It’s an escalation in the economic standoff with Russia and marks another step in Berlin’s increasingly active role in the energy industry as it unwinds decades of tight collaboration with Russia.

 

1:44 PM

Pakistan faces TTP, JeM hurdle in exiting FATF grey list

The UN's anti-terrorism watchdog - the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) - will meet next month to evaluate not just enacting of laws and their enforcement, but also individuals and terror groups suspected to be the beneficiaries in Pakistan, reported local media.

Meanwhile, Pakistan is scrambling to play down the rebellious Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP)'s marauding of innocent civilians in the Swat Valley, but also convince the FATF that Jaish-e-Muhammad (JeM) chief, Masood Azhar, is absconding and is not being sheltered on Pakistan territory, reported Islam Khabar.

Pakistan's record on the flow of funds into terrorist activities has been under sustained scrutiny by FATF which has placed it on the 'grey' list since 2018.

1:33 PM

After Covid-19 pandemic, world is facing challenge of economic recovery: PM Modi

After Covid-19 pandemic, world is facing challenge of economic recovery: PM Modi at SCO summit.

1:31 PM

Raju Srivastava continues to be on ventilator, recovering slowly: brother

More than a month after he was admitted to hospital following a heart attack, popular comedian-actor Raju Srivastava continues to be on ventilator, his brother Dipoo Srivastava said on Friday.

The family wishes to carry on with Srivastava's treatment at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) where he was hospitalised on August 10. He underwent an angioplasty the same day.

Dipoo Srivastava, also a comedian, said his elder brother is recovering slowly but continues to be unconscious.

"The recovery is slow. He will be fine soon. He is stable and on a ventilator. He is still unconscious. It's been 35 days but doctors are saying they are doing their best. We need all your prayers," Dipoo told PTI.